2017 Was the Most Expensive Disaster Year Ever

2017 hit cities across our country with some of the most extreme – and expensive – natural disasters ever seen. There were at least 15 weather events this year costing at least a billion dollars each. Yes, we said Billion with a B.

The Atlantic provided a breakdown of individual disaster costs, detailing the different circumstances each affected city is now facing as they recover.

As detailed in the article, we experienced the same repeated cycle after each natural disaster. “A storm hits, or a fire strikes. Businesses close and stay closed.”

This oversight can be fatal to your company.

Quest has experienced first-hand how crucial it is for businesses to make time-sensitive decisions in the middle of a natural disaster. Our customers must keep their business and employees safe while avoiding downtime and service delays.

Most recently during the fires in northern California, we received a call from one of our customers as they decided to evacuate their headquarters and begin executing their disaster recovery plan.

Here is how they felt after the evacuation:

“We now regard disaster recovery as a core component of everything we do. It’s not a project add-on; it’s part of the initial discussion, just like a rollout. We don’t use disaster recovery review sessions to determine whether and how we should recover something – that’s already built into our initial planning. We now use disaster recovery reviews to address strategic issues.”

“It won’t happen to us” happened to them – but because of their established and executed disaster recovery plan, our customer was prepared. They had the opportunity to give back and assist fire victims, many of them customers, and aid relief efforts during the disaster instead of becoming a statistic. Being prepared in the face of mounting natural disaster saved their business and reputation – it can save yours, too.